Knight Foundation investing big in S.J.
Long-gestating plans to revitalize San Jose’s Gudalupe River Park and Gardens — a ribbon of green space that traverses the city’s core — are getting a big boost from the Knight Foundation.
The organization announced Tuesday it was launching a three-year initiative to transform the 254-acre park, beginning with a $600,000 grant to urban-planning group SPUR. The grant will start research and analysis on the park and its surrounding area between Interstate 280 and Interstate 880.
“The park has been a work in progress for more than 30 years,” Christopher Thompson, the Knight Foundation’s San Jose program director, said in a blog post. “Today, with the development of the tech campuses and the addition of numerous corporate headquarters to the area, we’re approaching a critical mass of people who live, learn and work nearby — and who need a compelling public space that serves them.”
SPUR will work with the city of San Jose and the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy to reimagine the park, a process that the Knight Foundation says needs to include community input. “San Jose deserves an iconic public space for everyone, and everyone in San Jose deserves a place made for them,” said Sam Gill, Knight Foundation chief program officer and senior vice president. “Guadalupe River Park can be that place.”
The Guadalupe River Park and Gardens long has been a difficult place for planners to wrap
their arms around, partly because it has so many pieces. Originally envisioned as restful open space, it includes spacious Discovery Meadow to the south, the seldom-used playgrounds at Arena Green, the Rotary Playgarden and the Heritage Rose Garden.
It’s all connected by a series of riverside trails, many of which are now teeming with homeless encampments.
But in recent years — spurred partly by Google’s expansion plans and other downtown development — there have been efforts to activate the park in new ways for a potential influx of residents and workers. If all this sounds a little familiar, that’s because plans to revitalize downtown’s historic St. James Park also were floated just a few years ago.
A design contest was staged and won by San Francisco-based CMG Landscape Architecture, but the overall plan’s price tag — at times estimated between $40 million and $50 million — has kept the project idling for nearly two years. The last time I checked with Friends of the Levitt Pavilion — backers of a proposed concert venue that’s part of the redesign — the group said work was continuing, albeit slowly.
Given that example, it stands to reason that the Knight Foundation and SPUR are going to have to help San Jose garner private investment in Guadalupe River Park’s future for this transformation to become a reality.
UNDER CONSTRUCTION >> Legoland Discovery Center Bay Area found its Master Model Builder in Milpitas resident Samuel Suksiri, who won the 15-person Brick Factor competition last weekend at the Great Mall. Suksiri’s job won’t be all play — he’ll be responsible for maintaining and developing new features and building new models for the 31,000square-foot attraction, which is expected to open in April.
The competition on Saturday challenged contestants to build original Lego models in timed rounds and finished with a San Francisco 49ersthemed final build. After the competition ended, Legoland Discovery Center Bay Area General Manager James Judy and Marketing Manager Jason No wrapped things up by dumping a congratulatory bin of Lego bricks on Suksiri. At least it’s not as cold as a Gatorade bath.
TALKING WOMEN’S RIGHTS >> Three members of the Women’s Equality 2020 Leadership Council in Santa Clara County will provide a historical perspective on the struggle for women’s rights Tuesday at the Saratoga Foothill Club.
Educator Sharon Bouska will talk about the history of the suffrage movement, Sera Fernando will look at diversity in the workplace, and attorney Protima Pandey will give attendees an update on the Equal Rights Amendment. The discussion, sponsored by the Saratoga History Museum, will start at 7:30 p.m. at 20399 Park Place. It’s free for Saratoga Historical Foundation members, and a $5 donation is requested from everyone else.